Showreel

La Ritournelle Train Station Scene (WIP)



Motion Graphics Presentation Video for Rockwell Solutions Ltd

Masters Show 2011 Artwork and Videos

Waiting Final Animation

Camera and Staging

My choice with Waiting is to have a single locked off camera with no edits for the duration of the animation. One thing I did notice was that some of the expressions don't read as well as they could if the camera was closer to the character. Previously I have looked into a setup with a moving camera but I felt for the project where I want the audience to view the character as a whole that a single locked camera would be best. In the future I may decide to revisit this project and see how it would work with different staging.

Rendering and Compositing

Here is a breakdown of the render layers used to create the final composition. I wanted to keep it simple so I choose to only render what I thought was necessary and what would save me time. For example as the camera does not move I only rendered 1 background frame and 1 ZDepth frame and then a shadow and reflection pass for the whole animation. The character and shadow was also rendered out as separate layers. Finally there is the sky layer which was just a photograph taken atop the Law Hill :P This was all then taken into After Effects and composited together.

Animation Final Edits

Some very last minute edits to the animation. I was unhappy with the last section so I made some quick changes that I think work better.

 

Animation Update Thirteen

This is the final animation. Not yet rendered but it has the new background model and gives you an idea of the look of the final thing.
 

Animation Update Twelve

This is pretty much the full animation with the exception of the facial animation. Now that I have all the blend shapes created I will add do that next.

Modeling the Background Part Two

The background for the animation is something I have been unsure about. In terms of both the amount of detail and rendering style. My initial plan was to have the background be quite plain to focus the audiences attention on the animation. But this lack of detail wasn't working for me so I slowly started to add more detail to help give a better idea of the space the character is inhabiting. Below are images from this process of iteration.

Blendshapes

I have been putting off creating the blend shapes ever since the modelling and rigging stage of the production. I have now gone back and created a whole bunch of different expressions and face shapes that I will use along with the eye and jaw controllers to create the final facial expressions.

Animation Update Eleven

Getting close to having all the animation finished. Just need to get the last section sorted and then get all the facial animation done.
 

Animation Update Ten

Much bigger update than last time. After the character finishes yawning he walks over and sits down. He then leans forward which is my favorite bit of animation so far. I have then started to block out some more movements including the big yawn.
 

Animation Update Nine

Just a wee update to the animation. Yawn...
 

Animation Update Eight

Although I have restarted the animation looking at the work I have now produced I am very happy with the decision. I am working much faster than I have been and producing better results. This is due to me being much more focused in what I want to achieve but also partly due to having much less time to do the same amount of animation. It will be a difficult few weeks but I should manage to complete the animation in time.
 

Animation Update Seven

After the peer review on Wednesday I decided it would be best to just restart the animation again. I realised that I wasn't focusing on the right aspects of the animation. I was too getting to concerned with just making the character move and not how and why he was moving. So from now on I will have to keep reminding myself to always consider the mood of the character and let that inform how they move. Below is the start of what will hopefully be the final animation.